The NC Highway Patrol has identified a New York couple critically injured when their recreational vehicle plowed into a slower-moving tractor trailer on Interstate 95 in Johnston County.
Wednesday afternoon, troopers said a tractor trailer was traveling northbound near Selma and braked suddenly for traffic slowing for debris in the roadway. An RV following the tractor trailer failed to reduce speed adequately and struck the rear of the trailer.
The RV driver, Robert Smith of Apalachin, NY was pinned in the wreckage for an hour. Once he was extricated he was airlifted to WakeMed. His wife, Patricia Smith, a front seat passenger, was briefly trapped in the wreckage but was more easily freed. Both remain in critical condition.
Both northbound lanes of I-95 were closed due to the collision for about 3 hours. The driver of the tractor trailer was not injured.
